Mia Fileman (00:03.252)
Have you ever finished watching something and immediately thought, I just need someone to talk to about this? That's why we're here. I'm Mia.
Gerri Florence (00:11.554)
And I'm Jerry. We realized something recently. We spent hours watching incredible documentaries, TV series, movies, and books, and then we have nowhere to put all the thoughts afterwards. Our partners either haven't watched the shows or they definitely don't want a 40-minute conversation about why one fictional breakup perfectly captured emotional safety, or how a documentary may have completely changed the way we think about human behavior. So we decide to have those conversations here instead.
Mia Fileman (00:39.54)
This isn't a celebrity god This isn't a celebrity gossip podcast. We're not recapping every episode of the latest reality show. And just so we're clear, there will be absolutely no maths. We're much more interested in what stories reveal about people.
Gerri Florence (00:56.568)
Why certain characters stay with us? Why healthy relationships on screen suddenly feel revolutionary? Why documentaries make us question ourselves? And why a TV show can completely change the conversation around sex and parenting, friendship, or even masculinity.
Mia Fileman (01:12.712)
We'll probably wander into philosophy.
Gerri Florence (01:15.362)
Definitely feminism.
Mia Fileman (01:17.374)
Human behavior.
Gerri Florence (01:19.063)
culture.
Mia Fileman (01:20.627)
The occasional marketing tangent and a lot of wait, did you notice that too?
Gerri Florence (01:26.368)
So welcome to Off Script. The credits might have rolled, but the conversation is just getting started. And we're back. So we're back. Episode two. We were so love drunk off off campus, we needed our next hit. Heat it rivalry just made sense with the hockey romance female author. So we promptly subscribed to HBO Max. And here we are.
Mia Fileman (01:48.691)
my god, another screaming streaming service, Jerry. Another one.
Gerri Florence (01:51.756)
I know. I know. I'm I've only got a w one month trial and I binged it all in that one month trial. So the next show can't be on HBO.
Mia Fileman (01:58.696)
Well now I wanna know what else H Yeah, I know but like what else is on HBO Max that I could be watching?
Gerri Florence (02:05.045)
No. Well and now it's for research, right? Everything.
Mia Fileman (02:07.782)
It is for research. Well, I have to say this has quickly become my favourite thing to do in the week, so I'm happy we're here.
Gerri Florence (02:13.613)
Great, me too. And hopefully others are happy to join us.
So here we are, two straight women talking about gay sex. How do you feel about that?
Mia Fileman (02:28.501)
It was so hot. I didn't expect it to be so hot.
Gerri Florence (02:30.977)
So hot.
Gerri Florence (02:36.277)
Yeah. My husband would walk by every now and again when I was watching this show and just look at me and shake his head and be like, What are you watching? And I'm like, you know, for the first couple of episodes, I was very aware that I was watching gay sex because I just had not personally been exposed to a lot of that, so it stood out. And then after the first kind of three or so episodes, it kinda stopped being a thing and it was just beautiful sex between beautiful humans and it stopped being kind of so noticeable. What about you?
Mia Fileman (03:05.178)
Yeah, exactly that. I I from the minute they started canoodling, I was into it. I was right into it. Yeah. I will say though that they were quite masculine characters, you know, as hockey players. So yeah, it it wasn't it was just two really gorgeous dudes and I'm I'm I'm good with that.
Gerri Florence (03:21.121)
They were very fit.
Gerri Florence (03:32.757)
Yeah, absolutely. So we loved it for the hot romance and we loved it for the friendships.
Mia Fileman (03:40.579)
Yeah. So many beautiful friendships and heated rivalry. I loved off campus more, I will say, but I loved heated rivalry as well because it wasn't just about hot gay sex. There was there was lots of layers to this show and the friendship Yeah.
Gerri Florence (03:48.289)
Right. Yes.
Gerri Florence (04:00.364)
Yeah. It Yeah, it was it was more complex and had a lot more at stake, I think, than it than an off campus. So it felt a little bit more adult, where off campus was a bit of just like joy watching and less of the hard bits, I think. Did it absolutely blow your mind when you found out that Connor's story, who plays Ilya, was not Russian?
Mia Fileman (04:27.362)
Yes. And also same deal with like Belmont Camelli and Garrett Graham. I don't want to see any interviews with Connor Story. Yeah, he is Ilya, he needs to be Ilya, he needs to have the Russian accent. I have bought into that character. Connor Story is very young, like, and it makes me question all the feelings that I've been feeling.
Gerri Florence (04:37.664)
Ilya? Right.
Gerri Florence (04:48.994)
Really?
I didn't look up his age. I did with Garrett Graham. I looked up Belmont, I looked up his age. I didn't look up Ilya's age. Maybe I was just trying to fool myself. He does.
Mia Fileman (04:59.768)
Yeah, he looks very, very, very young. So the those those characters just need to be preserved in amber for me.
Gerri Florence (05:08.226)
Yeah, okay. the show I think people love it. I haven't really read a lot of criticism from the show. I know lots of millennial women, straight women like us, who have watched it and loved it. but I think the show really wanted to make some c strong stances around what is normal and what should be expected and and what people need to know because the actual actors sexuality has never been confirmed. Like, should we care? Do we care? Should we get to know?
What do you think? I don't care.
Mia Fileman (05:39.618)
don't care. I it's it I don't care. I don't want to know. I believe that actors should be given privacy. Like I'm seeing what's happened to Jacob Belordi since Wuthering Heights and the the poor guy can't catch a break. Like it's I I I don't care. If you play a really convincing character like Connor Story did, like as far as I'm concerned, it's the delivery of it. What you do, you know, and who you do it with.
Gerri Florence (06:07.598)
I think I don't think we have the right to know. And I kind of do love that they aren't willing to confirm or or deny. I think if either way the acting was incredible, and they I believe them both as Ilya, a bisexual man, and Shane as as a gay man, and finding his way through that, I thought the acting was was superb.
Mia Fileman (06:07.772)
is really up to you. But that's just me, I guess.
Mia Fileman (06:35.637)
Yeah. So like Jonathan Brailly, who Bridgetton, who plays Anthony in Bridgetton, is an openly gay actor, Jonathan Braille. But in Bridgetton, he plays straight, Lord Bridgetton. And works for me. I got no problems. Works for me, no problem.
Gerri Florence (06:41.315)
Right.
Gerri Florence (06:55.736)
Works for me? My suspension of disbelief? Not a problem.
Mia Fileman (07:00.318)
Absolutely, yeah. You know, like there's this, you know, decades old myth that Tom Cruise is gay and won't come out because then he wouldn't get roles like Mission Impossible and Top Gun. And I'm I'm like, maybe may maybe in nineteen eighty nine, but in twenty twenty six, I think audiences can accept that you can be both a top gun and be homosexual and that can turn us on regardless, you know?
Gerri Florence (07:12.642)
Right. That's all shifting.
Gerri Florence (07:27.788)
Yes, absolutely. Talking about Top Gun and being turned on. Now with off campus, so like it's hard not to draw like so many direct comparisons, both, you know, really emotional relationships, romance, hockey. but can we talk a bit more about how Hita Romley was
For me, harder to watch as in terms of like more effort. It wasn't that I still binge probably watched two episodes at a time, but I haven't gone straight for the rewatch because it felt heavier to me and I just needed a little bit more time to sit with it.
Mia Fileman (08:06.643)
Yeah, that's fair that that's a fair call. I rewatched the last episode called The Cottage because I just loved that episode. It was so beautiful.
Gerri Florence (08:17.966)
That's really interesting 'cause I feel like of all the episodes, that one I guess ha had lightness to it because you felt the relief of the characters. They they didn't have to hide who they were and so it wasn't as heartbreaking as the other episodes.
Mia Fileman (08:33.269)
But also, like that is my fantasy, right? Like the most beautiful, you know, lake side house, all the food being in the fridge, no visitors, no one, no interruptions, just love making, sing like swimming in the lake.
Gerri Florence (08:37.173)
Johnny More.
Gerri Florence (08:53.454)
Yeah. For two weeks though? It's a long time.
Mia Fileman (08:57.212)
It's perfect. No notes. Perfect. That is like I think that they s that the the writers wrote my fantasy.
Gerri Florence (09:05.654)
Right. See the extroverted extrovert in me. I'd go crazy with one person for two weeks, I think.
Mia Fileman (09:11.752)
Just think about the deepness of the connection and the things that you would share and then sitting by the fireplace and stroking each other's hair, it was it was perfect. It was perfect. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (09:19.702)
Yeah. Yeah. And it was cute when they when Shane said, just relax, and Ilya was like the thought of they never get to relax because they never get to be who they really are. And then that like heartbreak of being so rich, so successful, the best in in what you do, but having to hide who you are would be so exhausting. And the thought of of relaxing for Ilya just seemed I mean, I think there was a bit of a reference to like we won't be relaxing mate kind of thing, but
Mia Fileman (09:34.504)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (09:48.396)
I also just believe that he hasn't really been able to release like he does when he's with Shane and alone in that cabin for that long.
Mia Fileman (09:57.67)
That's what I really loved about heated rivalry, because, you know, we have embraced homosexuality in a big way culturally, as we should. But it seems like sport and particularly masculine sports like ice hockey is kind of the last frontiers where it's still not really acceptable to be openly gay. Like do whatever you want to do behind closed doors, boys, but you know.
Gerri Florence (10:08.43)
Isn't it?
Gerri Florence (10:20.834)
Mm-hmm.
Gerri Florence (10:25.707)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (10:27.278)
you are role models and there's a there's these fans that will stop watching hockey if you come out as gay and it it was it was really heartbreaking that you can be literally playing in the Olympics and still need to hide who you are. Rich, successful, the top of your game, they were captains of their team, they were representing their countries, they were the flagbearers and they still can't be who they are. That's just nuts, nuts.
Gerri Florence (10:39.758)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (10:54.358)
Yeah. And the the show I think was challenging that. And we saw some criticism, I guess, to link it to off campus around this idea that why should a show where men actually respect women and want consent and have emotional safety be so praised? Like surely we should lift the bar? And I really push back on that narrative. I'm like, men can't be what they can't see. And that same would be going for
you know, these athletes at the top of their game, they need to see these representations in their culture where the men can be who they are and still be championed and still be accepted in the locker room and still be, you know, crossing those kind of different areas of life and and not be shunned upon kind of thing. So I think the show challenging that that Scott Hunter can get his boyfriend out on the ice and kiss him at the end of a thing. And there is no big reaction to that. He's not
fired, he's not shunned, he's not, you know, ripped down for that. I think that's important in both shows.
Mia Fileman (11:55.812)
Yeah. Yeah. I loved that scene. I thought that that was like it was not the most believable moment of the show. It it was the most I know, but it's TV, Jerry. It's not real life. Like you need those big pinnacle moments, right?
Gerri Florence (12:02.7)
The
Gerri Florence (12:07.19)
It wasn't believable at all. Not at
Gerri Florence (12:13.826)
I I think but e the character could not have had that type of transformation. He didn't pre-think about that, but for years he's been hiding who he was, ended the relationship with Kip because he couldn't come out and be who he was at the risk of his career. And I'm gonna finally reach my career pinnacle, win the trophy, bring you on an ice and make out with you on the ice and live TV. Like it's just Scott would never have done that in that moment.
Mia Fileman (12:43.826)
Maybe, but, but, but just hear me out, all right? He's won the cup, so he's achieved his dream. He seems to be quite a bit older than Ilya and Shane. And so they didn't say, but I implied that maybe retirement was on the horizon. And so it was that moment of, well, I'm risking it all now. Because what have I got to lose? I've just won the cup.
If this does end my career, that's okay because I'm going out on a high and I'm going out on my terms and this is probably maybe the last chance for me to do it. No?
Gerri Florence (13:24.728)
Well, may I never really like considered he has got nothing to lose anymore because he won the cup in that moment and it was such a thrill. And he was watching everyone else share the moment with someone, which I thought was well done leading up to that decision. Sad, it was so sad. Why was Kip at the game? Was he in their seats?
Mia Fileman (13:38.017)
That was so sad. So sad. Yeah.
Mia Fileman (13:47.149)
I think he was back in the seats, yeah. It was weird b yeah. It was weird because the Kip and Scott Hunter episode was like episode three. So we had like two episodes of Shane and Ilya, so Hollander and Rosanoff. And then we were hit with like episode three, which actually took us back in time, which was a little bit hard to kind of process, but I but I actually quite liked it.
Gerri Florence (13:49.527)
Like
Gerri Florence (14:01.774)
Uh-huh.
Gerri Florence (14:12.14)
Yes. Yeah, we'll have to come back to that. Yeah.
Mia Fileman (14:15.978)
And they introduced Scott and Kip. And then right at the end, when they they break up, third a third act breakup again for Scott and Kip. they kind of break up, but it it kind of left it up open-ended because Kip just said, I think I'm gonna go sleep at home tonight. So we don't know if they're completely broken up.
Gerri Florence (14:39.0)
Right, yeah.
Mia Fileman (14:43.048)
Or what's happened, but we know that Scott didn't come to Kip's birthday at the gay bar. But then we don't see them. I was so sad. Yeah. It's like Yeah, he d he stood out the front. Yeah. and then we didn't see Scott and Kip for another couple of episodes. And then yeah, the next time we see him, we see him back in the stands. And it looks like they're in some pretty good scenes.
Gerri Florence (14:48.13)
He ain't tried.
He tried. Just go in.
Gerri Florence (15:08.61)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, th those two seats that he would have. it's so funny because obviously we'd were texting as we're watching this show, Mia and I, and Mia was ahead of me on Heated Rivalry and she was messing about Kip and then I didn't tweak early that Scott was gonna be gay as well. Like they did a really good job of kind of mulling that over.
And I sent me a picture of him being like, I clearly have a type, because I thought Scott was the most gorgeous character and more age appropriate for me. and then when it turned out that he was actually gay in the show, whilst I was a a little bit bummed for straight me, I just adored Kip's character so much that I was okay with it.
Mia Fileman (15:52.81)
Kip and Scott were some of my favorite characters, but Kip and his dad was that just sent me. It absolutely sent me because when we think about villains, right, in stories, often it's the parent of a homosexual boy who's just not willing to accept that their son is gay. And they had a yeah.
Gerri Florence (16:18.604)
Yeah, Phil would have been not happy, you know, from off campus.
Mia Fileman (16:21.629)
A Phil. Yeah, exactly. Right. Like, they love hockey. they've they've got this notion of their of you know playing ball sports with their son and you know, drinking beers and whatever. Not that you can't do that as a homosexual man, but there's these stereotypes, right? And then we Pip's dad, and he is perfect. He is the dad, or he is he's just the dad that we all want, right? Yeah.
Gerri Florence (16:36.78)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (16:43.33)
He is gorgeous.
Gerri Florence (16:48.268)
Yes. Yeah. And the antithesis to the the fill in off campus, what we look for in that parent child relationship. So it really had me wondering about heat at rivalry that who is the villain? Who is the bad guy that's creating this kind of drama for the characters or bad girl? And I s I mean, I struggled to find that. Ilya's dad obviously was hard on him in his life.
But he has this dementia, so and we kind of forgive him for being a man of his era and a man suffering with dementia. So his ability to kind of change and accept Ilya for who he is isn't really there. And his brother is a clear villain in Ilya's life. But Shane doesn't have one.
Mia Fileman (17:34.081)
H his mother, sort of. She a little bit she came across as do you want this sponsorship deal with Rolex and do you want to go to the tennis? And it was subtle. I don't know what it was like because again I haven't read the books, but it seemed like they were ki he it seemed to me that Shane was feeling a little bit of pressure from his mother to commercialise his success as a hockey player.
Gerri Florence (17:36.651)
It's okay.
Gerri Florence (18:03.159)
Mm-hmm.
Mia Fileman (18:04.071)
And then that probably added to his inability to come out because he would lose all these brand deals. but then I thought it was so beautiful at the end where the mother had to, you know, step out of the house and started crying. She's like, I just do you forgive me for not for for for making you feel like you couldn't tell me, which I thought really beautiful. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (18:13.059)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (18:29.004)
Yeah. Yeah. And and I thought she was when I first met her, I thought she was gonna be more problematic than she turned out to be. But I think, where off campus does have that one villain that's kind of creating the drama for characters and society is actually very accepting and open. I think in Heather Rivalry the the villain or the or the tension comes from the fact that as a society we still aren't making
a safe place for these people to be who who they want to be. There is no emotional safety, but there's no one person to pin that on. It's actually on all of us and the role that we play in not not creating a space where these people feel like they can yeah, be safe to be who they are is kind of what I came to.
Mia Fileman (19:16.006)
That's a really good point. Yeah. I think that's that's so true. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (19:19.914)
So should we talk about the emotional safety aspect? Because I think that that's a big delineating factor between off campus and heater robbery.
Mia Fileman (19:28.151)
Yeah, absolutely. Female authors writing it it's not tween, it's not teen, it's young young adult romances, really, would you say? yeah, young adult and
Gerri Florence (19:40.046)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, young adults are definitely like in their mid twenties.
Mia Fileman (19:48.643)
Yeah, and just really positive role modding role modeling of so many beautiful things like consent and open communication and respecting each other's boundaries and non-toxic behaviors like jealousy and controlling and like even though Ilya and Shane they they do have some sort of avoidant
Complexities to their relationship. When it actually comes to the sex, Ilya's like, are you sure you're ready for this? Do you want this? Let's start here. It's not brute force, you know. So I think that there's still a lot of emotional safety and consent when it comes to the actual coitus.
Gerri Florence (20:24.429)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (20:27.98)
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
Gerri Florence (20:38.174)
Yes. Yes. Okay. With that pit, I I would agree. no one's doing anything they don't want to do like under duress, and that includes Ilya and Svetlana, because they do have sex in the show. but Ilya's a bisexual character, and that sex I think is really about their love for each other and they're both attractive, and you're my best friend. And this is just as with both shows, I think they challenge this concept of like.
Mia Fileman (20:48.962)
Yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (21:04.95)
It's only okay to have sex with one person who you deeply love and you're in a committed relationship with, otherwise you're a bit slutty. You know, I think that the shows really challenge that. and they the characters may have lacked emotional safety, which is what made it heartbreaking for us. It took years for Shane to finally kind of even be honest with himself. And where, like I think with off campus, Hannah tells Garrett, like in a matter of days, about the sexual assault, like the relationship.
Mia Fileman (21:33.163)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (21:33.442)
The safety kind of comes really quickly, but I still believe that as an oversharer. Like I do, I do that. But again, I think it was safer for her to talk about that than it was for Shane to kind of admit what was going on. But then we have these women in in Leah's life and Shane's life who create emotional safety or safe place for them to land.
Mia Fileman (21:36.212)
Yeah, that's mm-hmm.
Mia Fileman (21:55.601)
my god, the women. They are, you know how straight women like you and I, we we joke that, like, we would love a gay best friend because they would help us to be more confident and be more proud of you know who we are and all of that. And it was like a role reversal for me, where you had these straight women literally holding their guy. Like they were holding their men.
Gerri Florence (21:57.43)
Bibin.
Gerri Florence (22:20.47)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (22:23.219)
Alana Elena is Kip's best friend who went to the fundraiser with him. Maria is his coworker and he she calls him bitch, I think. Is it bitch or doll? Or girl? I don't know, but she c yeah, yeah. Rose was Shane's girlfriend and she picked up
Gerri Florence (22:37.182)
Can't remember. Okay.
Gerri Florence (22:43.688)
Yeah, Rose. I thought she was great. I mean, she took it like a champ. I feel like if because they really revved up that romance as being quite intense and quite in love and they were quite serious. And then she kind of just like she kind of sees it for what it is. And then she's not she's not hurt and she's not offended. She's just sad for it. Yeah.
Mia Fileman (23:08.296)
Not at all. Sad for him. And then Svetlana, who's who you mentioned being Ilya's friend, I absolutely loved the scene where Svetlana says to Ilya, I know you love me, but you don't love me as much as Jane. He doesn't know how lucky he is. And and it's like these women know. They know everything, they know everything that's been going on, but
They're not imposing their own timeline on them. I mean, Elena does a little bit at the fundraiser by talking to Scott Hunter and saying, hey, just so you know, Kip is miserable and he deserves to be sunshine, and you also deserve sunshine. And so like I feel like Elena has like overstepped in that particular mark. But like Rose and Svetlana, they are just like, hey, we are here for you on your time.
Gerri Florence (23:52.462)
Mm-hmm.
Gerri Florence (24:08.245)
No like sorry, what do you mean by overstepped? Why do you think she overstepped?
Mia Fileman (24:13.501)
Because I don't know if it was her place to tell Scott Hunter that basically he should leave Kip. That's yeah.
Gerri Florence (24:22.381)
I mean, I think y you being a girlfriend of mine, if you were had some toxic relationship or something that I felt wasn't good enough for you, that I would feel the need to do that. I feel like in a lot of ways it helped Sc Scott accept and it didn't like Kip didn't know that that conversation went down. Right. So I think she was really saying, like, I've got your back here, like you should proving that friendship to him. But then in the end it was actually Kip's decision to walk away. Scott wasn't the one that walked away. So
Mia Fileman (24:40.827)
Hmm.
Mia Fileman (24:51.815)
Yeah, yeah, I've got things mixed up. yeah, I guess I would want you to tell me, Mia, this is a toxic relationship. You need to walk away. But going and confronting my partner for me just feels like you're taking the agency away from me. But you're right, Kip was the one that actually, and do you know what was so beautiful? my God. It was actually his dad, I thought that was the reason Kip walked away. Because he said,
Gerri Florence (24:58.741)
Right. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (25:07.638)
Anyway.
Mia Fileman (25:21.088)
I have people I love too, and I can't tell them what's been going on in my life. And he had been avoiding his dad. His dad was trying to call him and he was not calling his dad, and he'd obviously lost his mum because there was no mum. And I reckon in Kip's mind he's thinking, This is my dad. I've lost my mum, and now I am like, you know, impacting this relationship with my dad.
Gerri Florence (25:31.65)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (25:46.552)
In order to have this relationship with Scott, and he's actually chosen his dad over Scott. And I was like, yes.
Gerri Florence (25:49.215)
Yeah.
Yeah. That's I never thought about it that way. That's very true. They the dad was just so sweet and doting and and just that safe place for him to fall, which is which Scott didn't have, right? 'Cause he doesn't have parents, which I again wasn't quite sure. Like like the Logan storyline with The Jealousy of Hannah, the storyline of Scott's being an orphan, I didn't see where that fit in the narrative of the show and why it was included.
Mia Fileman (26:22.553)
Well, because he didn't have anyone else on the ice with him, no family to greet him after winning the cup. And so him living in the shadows really meant he was alone. There was nobody else. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (26:29.549)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (26:35.404)
Yeah. Yeah. And 'cause I thought the mo the moments with the other people on the ice were more romantic partners, but maybe you have to go back 'cause you and rewatch it 'cause I've only watched it the once. But whether there was just that like kind of family support and then it's like obviously every player gets two seats for the whole season in the rank and that kip is sitting in his I think is symbolic that that is the family that Scott's choosing to have in that moment.
Mia Fileman (27:00.987)
That's right.
Gerri Florence (27:03.042)
But I just didn't know. Cause like the him being an orphan and leading that fundraiser and it kind of it wasn't a huge subplot, but it was kind of significant enough that I was just wasn't feeling like it necessarily sat so well. But I think in a lot of ways, I'm also fishing for something bad about the show to talk about or something that I didn't like. because I did feel like it was almost artistic in how it was shot and presented and the acting.
like off campus was very mainstream. He rivalry felt very much like yeah, watching art on T V.
Mia Fileman (27:37.975)
Yeah. And I think that because of the the plot device of like two homosexual men and the fact that it is streaming on HBO Max that it probably didn't get the same audience numbers that off campus would have got, but it's to me, it is no less a show by any stretch of the imagination. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (27:53.036)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (27:59.244)
Yeah, and you can actually stream HBO through Amazon Prime. So if you're on Amazon Prime watching off campus, it's it's only a click away, guys. Yeah, just k just commit though. It's like six episodes, eight episodes. Also kind of a a more limited series.
Mia Fileman (28:08.409)
And more money and just more money. That's that's what it is.
Mia Fileman (28:14.412)
Eight episodes, yeah. Hey, I just I just had a thought. So I know that you were saying that that big moment with Kip and Scott on the ice was like just seemed fantastical, right? Yeah. Well, it needed to happen because that's when Rosanoff called Shane to say, I'm coming to the cottage. Yes, it it yes.
Gerri Florence (28:37.312)
Yeah, that was his bravery. Yes a plot device.
Mia Fileman (28:42.504)
It was this ripple effect that needed to happen. It was a plot device. And then when they're talking to Shane's parents and they're telling, they're telling them that he's gay, like he's coming out to his parents, and Rosanoff's there. The mum asks Ilya and Shane, has anyone spoken to Scott Hunter? And Ilya said, I have. What he did, it changed something for me. See? See?
Gerri Florence (29:07.902)
Yeah. I forgot about that line. you just gave me chills remembering it. Yeah. It needed to happen. Okay, I take it back, Mia. I now agree. I agree with you. so any other like things that you're dying to talk about without with heated rivalry?
Mia Fileman (29:12.354)
They it needed to happen.
Mia Fileman (29:18.379)
It's true.
Mia Fileman (29:28.567)
Okay, I'm gonna absolutely butcher this. I'm gonna butcher this.
Gerri Florence (29:30.198)
gosh. Okay. That's okay, we can edit it out if it's terrible.
Mia Fileman (29:35.543)
Okay. Maybe it's just me who was curious about this, but it seems like when it comes to two men having sex, there is a top and there is a bottom.
Gerri Florence (29:51.308)
Or a peg and a hole as Rose puts it.
Mia Fileman (29:53.033)
On a whole. And I was very curious about how early on that is established. Like, do you just know when you go to the bar and you're flirting with someone whether they are because you don't want to bring the guy home and discover you're both pegs. And so Jerry, in we are
Gerri Florence (30:01.486)
Right.
Gerri Florence (30:10.766)
Right. Yeah.
Are we allowed to talk about this? Am I blushing? Here we are. Yes. No, exactly. it's interesting because I think the show obviously wants to be successful. It wants to be mainstream. That's why you would create such a show. And I think it absolutely can be, but I think that we have to be allowed to be curious, right? Like as straight people, we don't necessarily know the
Mia Fileman (30:18.773)
We are we're both blushing. We don't need the makeup artists from off campus. I could.
Gerri Florence (30:43.84)
expectations or the ebbs and flows. Like, and I mean that can be said for straight relationships too, because there is going to be differences. And I think maybe that's also the case. I think some people identify as one very a type of sexual preference, whether it be top or bottom. Some people are a bit more fluid in whether they are happy to be top or bottom. I don't think that there's like one way, but I do think it is something potentially that would need to be talked about.
And discussed kind of earlier on in a relationship.
Mia Fileman (31:16.818)
Big time. Absolutely. It's like, you know, same with heterosexual relationships. Like there are some people that love the backdoor action and there are some people that's like there's a it's a no go. Like we are not doing that. And that's that's a no. That's a no for me. So yeah, I I did research this because I was curious and you're you're exactly right. not every gay man identifies as either top and bottom.
Gerri Florence (31:28.886)
It's
Mia Fileman (31:45.511)
They're versatile. It can also change depending on the partner, actually. So I thought that that was really interesting. it's it's not as fixed as I would have believed. And yeah, it is actually something that does need to be discussed pretty early on if someone is fixed or has a strong preference with that partner that that is established, you know, before they get home. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (31:50.051)
Right.
Gerri Florence (32:00.942)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (32:10.846)
Yeah. And and Shane it this Shane establishes this for himself. He sh we see him finally getting to explore what his sexual preferences are. And he says that to Rose in a very tongue-in-cheek way with their with their beautiful relationships about that he is more of a a hull than a peg. And I love that moment for him, that kind of sexual awakening, I suppose, for for his character, which you could very much tell he was just getting his his feet
Mia Fileman (32:29.544)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (32:40.672)
in how to navigate those types of things with with a partner. but yes, I'd like I would really be interested in me in seeing what your browser history looks like when you were doing research for this part of the podcast.
Mia Fileman (32:55.602)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (32:56.952)
So all in all, I think we agree we love both for different reasons. I'm not gonna put one above the other. They're both fantastic in different ways. But then we finished Heat at Rivalry and we felt like, now what do we do? There wasn't a third hockey romance show to move on to. So what where were you inspired? What what took out your fancy?
Mia Fileman (33:20.902)
Well then we decided we would watch Voicemails for Isabel since it was the number one show on Netflix recommended for me and my millennial yeah, yeah, sorry, film. so yeah, do we want to talk about that now or should we save it for episode three?
Gerri Florence (33:28.6)
Film, yeah.
Gerri Florence (33:36.174)
Do you think
What do you think? Because we do have a little podcast we're both interested in as well, Love Trapped, which has some kind of manipulative factors going on that I think we could draw some interesting comparisons with voice notes for Isabel. Voicemails for Isabel. So maybe if we just tell our listeners to go away and watch voicemails for Isabel and listen to the podcast Love Trapped, then maybe when they turn in for tune in for episode three, they'll have something they want to listen to.
Mia Fileman (34:07.856)
Love it. Sounds like a plan.
Gerri Florence (34:09.645)
Great. So you guys got homework if you're listening. That's voicemails for Isabel streaming on Netflix. It's a a film and a tear jerker. Don't get excited that it's anything like off campus or heat of three because it's not, but it's got lots of merit in its own way. And listen to the podcast Love Trapped, wherever you stream your podcasts, including this one. And then we'll wrap that up in in episode three for you.
Mia Fileman (34:33.796)
See you next time.
Gerri Florence (34:34.894)
See ya.
